Has my F.A sold me a bum deal?

ossie1_2

Martinslovechild wrote:

Mmm. Offering is looking a tad dodgy there...


...and whether is looking decidedly wrong here too...


It deserves the death penalty.

Quite probably. Sadly quick typing skills don't account for not hitting the right keys despite knowing better.......

Will attend night school to improve typing ability.....

AndyWallace

ossie1 wrote:

Quite probably. Sadly quick typing skills don't account for not hitting the right keys despite knowing better.......

Will attend night school to improve typing ability.....

I wouldn't bother. With your 'experience' everyone will think you are the teacher.

Andy.

MSE_Martin

It does sound like a fixed rate, even if it was potentially more expensive would've been the best deal for you. There's an article on the site on how to choose between 'fixed' and 'discount' rates; the key is surety - if you need to be sure of your rates then you should fix.

Before dealing with a mortgage, its always so important to understand them. This is why even though Im a great fan of mortgage brokers, i always suggest you read up on mortgages before hand - so you can understand the questions as well as the answers.

It's likely you're locked in to the deal, but you could check. Having said that even if not moving could involve fees.

Why not -even at this stage read the mortgage guide linked to above. It should help you make your own decisions better in future

Best of luck

Martin

Conrad

Chrissy

At the heart of the FSA's regulation is a core principle called TREATING CUSTOMERS FAIRLY.

In the event of a complaint any adviser must be able to demonstrate he TREATED YOU FAIRLY.

The FSA expect the ADVICE GIVER to recommend the most appropriate solution for a clients needs.

A first time buyer on a limited budget would surely be safer with a fixed rate.
Even the most dense advisers SHOULD have been aware that worldwide interest rates have been following an increasing trend, howver some advisers are so wrapped - up in thier little worlds, they sometimes neglect to find out the bigger picture with regards to interest rate trends.

I would ahev thought you can make a case for misselling. I realise this could be awkward as he's a freind, but in my a book a true freind should have considered all of your needs.

Im often amazed to meet advisers who have no knowledge or interest in geo - political and world economic events, they would rather concern themselves with football leagues.
SURELY ALL ADVISERS WORTHY OF THIER POSITION SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE INTEREST RATE TRENDS AND DANGERS?

Fee free advisers in my opinion are where most danger lies. You get what you pay for in this world.

toonfish

Conrad wrote:

Chrissy

At the heart of the FSA's regulation is a core principle called TREATING CUSTOMERS FAIRLY.

In the event of a complaint any adviser must be able to demonstrate he TREATED YOU FAIRLY.

The FSA expect the ADVICE GIVER to recommend the most appropriate solution for a clients needs.

A first time buyer on a limited budget would surely be safer with a fixed rate.
Even the most dense advisers SHOULD have been aware that worldwide interest rates have been following an increasing trend, howver some advisers are so wrapped - up in thier little worlds, they sometimes neglect to find out the bigger picture with regards to interest rate trends.

I would ahev thought you can make a case for misselling. I realise this could be awkward as he's a freind, but in my a book a true freind should have considered all of your needs.

Im often amazed to meet advisers who have no knowledge or interest in geo - political and world economic events, they would rather concern themselves with football leagues.
SURELY ALL ADVISERS WORTHY OF THIER POSITION SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE INTEREST RATE TRENDS AND DANGERS?

Fee free advisers in my opinion are where most danger lies. You get what you pay for in this world.

In the interest of "treating the customer fairly" perhaps you should declare your status, and your apparent contempt for fee free advisers?

Whether there is a case for "mis-selling" would fall back on the fact finding and letter of recommendation - not the fact that the poster is annoyed that interest rates have gon eup.

dunstonh

A first time buyer on a limited budget would surely be safer with a fixed rate.

It can work both ways though. Rates go down and you can be left behind on a higher fixed rate.

Even the most dense advisers SHOULD have been aware that worldwide interest rates have been following an increasing trend, howver some advisers are so wrapped - up in thier little worlds, they sometimes neglect to find out the bigger picture with regards to interest rate trends.

Tracker would have been cheaper than a decent term fixed rate mortgage at that time. This was November and there were conflicting opinions at that time on interest rates. At that point higher rates at the beginning of the year were expected but after that opinion was divided.

I would ahev thought you can make a case for misselling.

Which would almost certainly be rejected and cost you a friend in the process. We dont know what was said, what was done, what was issued. To make that sort of comment without knowing the facts is innappropriate. Of course, one musnt forget that you have said many times that your crystal ball decisions have always been correct.

Let the OP come back and comment on what was presented and discussed before you start deciding if they have grounds for complaint.

Fee free advisers in my opinion are where most danger lies. You get what you pay for in this world.

Fee basis has no impact on the choice to go tracker, fixed, discount or whatever.

chrispyphillips

Wow, thanks for all the replys guys, i expected one solitary reply, and that would have needed a bump to achieve! Even a bit of advice from the Don Martin himself! The Mrs will be impressed! Its borderline royalty!

A lot of good points you all presented (except the negative's that posted for the sake of posting - of course I read about mortgages first!) I thought that an F.A would provide me the best deal, and it seems he has, I mean, I didnt really think he would have 'screwed' me over, but when he says 'this is the best deal' then my costs go up before making the first payment, a bit of fear kicks in, and then the news talking about more inflation and a sweat really breaks out! And although he is a 'friend' (family friend) I did have to get life insurance through him, or pay his firm costs, so it wasnt like the advice was completely 'free'.

The reason I chose to go with a FA in the fist place would be so that he could trawl through all the best offers, so that if there were any great deals I might have been likely to miss, he wouldnt have! It wasnt a case of ignorance or lazyness, but wanting to get the best offer. I was just concerned that after only 2 months, the offer wasnt the 'best' anymore! I have no problems with him, or his firm, and taking action etc is a step too far for this matter. I was just after the general opinion of people on the board who seem to be knowledgable, and to get a bit of reassurance, which a few of you have provided, who i have duly thanked!

And I can only apologise for any misspellings, I'm at work and supposed to be doing work, but snook on here to make a few posts! gotta be quick, no time for the smell chucker (like that gag hasnt been done before!)

:money:

chrispyphillips

dunstonh wrote:

If you ask for a yellow sweet and get a yellow sweet you cant complain if you realise that you didnt like the yellow sweet after all and would prefer a red sweet.

Oh yeah, thanks for the info Dunston, but I didnt like your analagy! I asked for a bag of sweets actually, but didnt know what i'd be getting, got Revels, realised that I didnt necessarily like everything they had to offer (coffee and orange), and wondered if i'd be better of with malteasers instead!

UK007BullDog

Some of the things have already be mentioned but I would have stuck you on a fixed because you are a FTB on a tight budget.


I don't do mortgages for my friends and relatives. They come and ask me but in the end its their decision. I will give tips as I don't want to lose their friendship due to a mortgage. Also I don't want to know their financial history.

You trusted your friend and thought that as he is in the trade is giving you best advice. He might have at the time depending on the responses you gave him. Did you do a full fact find with him? Did he know about your financial commitments? Did he ever mention that a fixed would be better for you? Did he give you a Key Facts to read?

It is up to you now to see if you can change the mortgage or even claim a miss sold on your friend (who will no longer be your friend). As an FA is he very experienced with mortgages? I find that FA are not as clued up on mortgages as pure mortgage brokers are as they spend more time doing investments and such (I know I will probably get hammered for this comment but that is my experience and opinion). Investment advice = FA; Mortgage advice = Broker or mortgage adviser.

dunstonh

You asked for what is best but there is no one "what is best". It is what is best tracker, what is best fixed etc.

So, if you decided that the tracker was the best route (the yellow sweet ) then he will research and recommend what he believes is the best tracker. if you want the fixed route (red sweet!) and he's done a tracker, thats when you start calling the recommendation into question. If you didnt know what the different flavours meant, then he should have covered that off.... enough with the sweets analagy

Maybe one of the mortgage advisers here can give a rough idea as to what fixed rates were like in November compared to trackers. Say a 5 year fixed as anything less wouldnt be ideal. If the tracker was say 1% less, then the rates have gone up by less than that so you are still better off on a monthly basis at this time and could still absorb a bit more before it becomes more expensive. Also the set up fees with the fixed could easily been higher as well and if you cost those in over a 5 year period, it could make a difference.

I dont do mortgages but even I know that the Nationwide tracker is a good mortgage if you want a tracker.

I find that FA are not as clued up on mortgages as pure mortgage brokers are as they spend more time doing investments and such (I know I will probably get hammered for this comment but that is my experience and opinion).

Funny as I use the same comment when posting about investments. Many financial advisers are virtually mortgage advisers who do very little investments and they should be avoided when investing. The same absolutely works in reverse with mortgages. I chose not to do mortgages any more because I didnt do enough of them and I couldnt keep upto date with mortgages and investments and do a good job in both. I didnt want to be a jack of all trades and master of none. So, I totally agree with you. I am not alone as research published late last year suggested that nearly 2/3rds of financial advisers would be better off dropping investment class business and just become mortgage advisers as that is what they mostly do. Problem is that some prefer to hold on to the tag "financial adviser" rather than "mortgage adviser" as they, incorrectly, see it as a backwards move.